Parkinson’s expert Lianna Marie joins Suzanne to talk about how having a purpose affects your quality of life as a person with Parkinson’s. Also, she describes ways her mom found purpose and meaning on her Parkinson’s journey.

Lianna says, "In Parkinson's, life slows down and — good or bad, it slows down physically, everything slows down. So over time things will take longer to do. But in the same boat, many people who I've talked to that have been diagnosed with Parkinson's early on, they say it was a gift in the sense that it actually did make them slow down. And they may have had a busy life in their professional life and they were just busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. And this time — during their diagnosis and adjusting to their diagnosis, accepting their diagnosis — was a time for them to start thinking about: what is it that I want to get done in my life? Or why am I doing that particular occupation even? I mean, a lot of people thought about that during the pandemic. Having something that drives you every day to get up, and get going, is absolutely paramount. And especially for someone who has any kind of illness, terminal or chronic, science will tell you that that is what's keeping you alive. A very large percentage of Japanese people are living over 100. They did this study: what was the paramount reason why they were living past 100. Yes, health. And what they eat is very important and the exercise. But they pinpointed one area: ikigai. The word means, basically, that which makes life worth living. And having that ikigai, whatever you want to call it — your purpose, that one thing can lead to you living longer. Just think about the reverse when we don't have a reason to live, what happens? We give up."

For her mom, Lianna explains, "Having something every day that gave her purpose was really paramount, especially on those tough days when life is really challenging. Things we discovered, that for her to be part of a group where she was needed. So every time that that group met, they're like, "Oh Val, you're here, your job is such and such." And so she had a purpose right away. Iit was a singing group. She loved to sing, and she could still sing. So her job was to put the music together for each week. As simple as that. It really made a difference. I would say around year 15 of 30, I interviewed her reflecting upon all the things that have made a difference. And that was one of the things, where she said having a reason to be productive."

Listen to more of Lianna's podcasts on Answers for Elders and visit Lianna's website.

SR Featured

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.